Welcome Back!

Welcome back from winter break! Before we dive back into our unit, I'd like to take a few moments for you to work on your own role in our unit. We're going to alternate a few times between me giving you a prompt, and then you writing in response to it, so you'll need your binders out.

Here's your first prompt: if I were to jump into a time machine and travel 10 years into a future where you're living a life you really enjoy, what would you be doing? Tell me about your relationships: Do you have a spouse? A family? A close group of friends? Tell me about your work: What kind of job do you have? What skills does it require of you? Where does it require you to live? What kind of training did this job require you to get? Are you still a student? If so, what are you studying?  Tell me about your life outside of work: What kinds of activities do you do regularly? Where do you live? What kind of reputation do you have? All right, that's enough from me. Write freely; this writing is just for you. You have 10 minutes and a goal to answer as many of the prompts as possible with as much specificity as you can muster.

Now, I'd like you to re-read what you wrote, specifically looking for specifics. When you read a clear, specific detail that you included, underline it. If you don't have anything to underline, use an arrow to add in a specific sentence. I'll give you a 3 minutes for that.

Now, share with your partner what you wrote Now, share with your partner what you wrote. View this as a conversation, not as re-reading your piece of writing. I'd like each person to speak for 30 seconds, and I'll call time when the first 30 seconds* have passed. Go.

Thanks for having that conversation with your partner Thanks for having that conversation with your partner. These are pretty personal things that you wrote and conversed about, so I'll only ask for a few volunteers to share out their time machine exercise. Before you volunteer though, here's the thing: you'll only have ten seconds to share out.

I appreciate those volunteers. Now, let's take one more step toward making those time machine exercises a reality. How many of you know someone who set a New Year's resolution last week? How many of you set one yourself? New Year's resolutions are basically time machine exercises. People envision what they'd like to have accomplished one year from January 1, 2019, and then they set goals that will allow them to get there.

The best way to set a good goal is to remember to make it SMART The best way to set a good goal is to remember to make it SMART. Please write this in your notes. A SMART goal is:

Attainable Specific Measurable Relevant Time-Sensitive “I'll climb Mt. Everest,” not “I'll climb a mountain.” Example 2 — “I'll earn an A in Algebra,” not “I'll get my grades up.” Measurable Ex 1 — Climbing to the top of Mt. Everest is pretty simple to measure; you look around and there's no higher place to climb. Ex 2 — Grades are also easy to measure; what does PowerSchool say? Attainable Ex 1 — If you can't walk 100 yards without getting winded, climbing Mt. Everest may be unattainable in year. If you don't have a lot of money, Mt. Everest is unattainable. Ex 2 — If you've always failed math, an A could be a pretty tall order. Relevant Ex 1 — Mt. Everest would take an enormous amount of time, effort, and sacrifice. In that case, it had better be a big part of your long-term plans. Ex 2 — Passing Algebra is mandatory for high school graduation in Michigan, and getting a high grade in Algebra is a pretty solid idea if any of your long-term aspirations include college. Time-Sensitive Give yourself a deadline. Ex 1 — I'll climb Mt. Everest by the time I'm fifty. Ex 2 — I'll earn an A in Algebra by February 1.

Smart, right? Let's try this on for size: I'd like you to set three SMART goals for the year 2019, making sure that they are relevant to your time machine exercise from earlier. Consider creating one SMART goal each for a few broad categories: (1) maybe one for school, (2) one for a hobby, and (3)one for your interpersonal skills meaning your friends or the way you communicate with friends. Just a recommendation; the only requirement is that you make three SMART goals.

All right, to wrap things up, I'd like each of you to select one of your three SMART goals that you'll focus on in the month to come, and please write that one goal down on a slip of the paper I'm passing out right now. Please also write your name on it because I'm going to collect these and give them back to you in a month to see what progress you've made with your goal.